# Ecommerce KPI Reporting: One Set of KPI Definitions in Dashboards, Chat and Exports

E-commerce KPI reporting from one set of definitions: how finance teams build a monthly KPI pack in Luca AI from Shopify, Amazon, ad accounts and Xero, check how each KPI is defined, trace every figure to its table and share the report.

- Applies to: Every Luca AI plan; Slack on the Leadership plan and above
- Status: Live
- Verified: 2026-10-29
- Canonical page: https://ask-luca.com/product-docs/use-cases/kpi-reporting

E-commerce KPI reporting goes wrong when the same figure is copied between tools that each count it differently. Shopify, Xero and the ad platforms can all show a different "October revenue", and the board pack ends up full of footnotes. Luca AI builds your KPI report from one set of definitions instead. It calculates every KPI from one private warehouse, uses the same figures in your dashboard, chat answers and exports, and links each figure to the table it came from.

## At a glance {#at-a-glance}

| | |
|---|---|
| **The job** | Produce a dependable weekly or monthly KPI report without copying figures between tools |
| **Where the figures come from** | Shopify, Amazon, Meta, Google Ads, TikTok Ads, Xero or QuickBooks, Stripe, your bank through Open Banking, plus Recharge and Klaviyo set up by the Luca team |
| **How KPIs are calculated** | By Luca, from one private warehouse, using sensible defaults with your own definitions on top |
| **Your own measures** | Custom metrics and KPIs, calculated to your business's own definitions |
| **Where the same figures appear** | Your brand's dashboard, custom dashboards, chat answers, scheduled reports and downloads |
| **How you check a figure** | Every answer shows its working: the exact query behind each dashboard figure, and reasoning steps and sources in chat |
| **How you send the report** | A PDF board pack, scheduled email reports, Slack delivery, downloads as CSV, Excel, Word, PDF or PowerPoint, or a private, revocable link |
| **How fresh it is** | Every source refreshes overnight, and the dashboard each morning |
| **What it changes** | Nothing. Luca reads your systems and writes to none of them |

## What KPI reporting from one set of definitions means {#what-it-is}

A KPI report is a short, fixed set of measures you track every week or month: revenue, margin, ad returns, customer acquisition cost and cash. It only works if each measure means the same thing every time. When figures are copied from five tools, each tool's own definition comes along with them.

Luca works the other way round. It brings your sources into one private data warehouse for your brand, then calculates the KPIs itself and keeps them up to date daily. Its dashboards, chat answers, forecasts and analyst-written reviews all draw on that same warehouse. So the ROAS in your dashboard and the ROAS in a chat answer come from the same data and the same definition.

![A diagram showing Shopify, Amazon, Meta, Google Ads, Google Analytics, Klaviyo, Recharge, Stripe, Xero and Open Banking flowing into one private warehouse for a demo brand, with one set of definitions beneath it, then out to dashboards, chat answers, and board packs and exports showing the same contribution margin](https://ask-luca.com/product-docs/images/explainers/one-set-of-definitions.webp)

*An illustrative diagram of how one set of definitions sits behind every place a KPI appears, so the board pack, the dashboard and a chat answer cannot drift apart.*

### What you see {#what-you-see}

On your brand's dashboard, hover over a metric name to see how it is worked out. The definition shows what the figure includes, what it leaves out and where the data comes from. Luca holds more than 4,000 field definitions, written so the AI knows what every number means.

![A close-up of three KPI tiles for a demo brand with a tooltip over Contribution margin, defining it as net revenue less product cost, payment and marketplace fees, shipping and ad spend, and naming its source](https://ask-luca.com/product-docs/images/use-cases/kpi-contribution-margin-definition.webp)

*The contribution margin definition for Fernlow, a demo brand, shown on hover. The figures are sample data; the point is that the definition travels with the number into your KPI pack.*

> **Try asking Luca:** "What was our contribution margin in October, how is it defined for our brand, and which tables did the figure come from?"

### Custom metrics and custom dashboards {#custom-metrics}

Luca calculates custom metrics and KPIs to your business's own definitions. Metric definitions are governed in one place: sensible defaults for every customer, with each business's own definitions on top. So chat and dashboards give the same number every time, and Luca uses your own terminology in its answers.

You add a measure from **Numbers** › **Definitions**, headed **How every number is worked out**, with **Add a custom metric**. Then put it where you need it. Under **Numbers** › **My dashboard**, custom dashboards appear as tabs, with **+ New dashboard**, **Edit layout** and **Share**. A board pack dashboard, a weekly trading view and a peak-season view can all draw on the same definitions.

![The My dashboard tab in Luca Numbers for a demo brand, showing a dashboard called Joe's Monday numbers next to tabs for a Black Friday war room, a Board pack and a new dashboard, with KPI tiles for weekly net revenue, refill attach rate, stock cover and cash today, and a custom refill attach rate chart with the brand's written definition below it](https://ask-luca.com/product-docs/images/use-cases/kpi-custom-dashboard-metric.webp)

*A custom dashboard for Fernlow, a demo brand, with sample figures. The refill attach rate is the brand's own measure, and its definition sits under the chart, so the board reads the same rule every month.*

## Where e-commerce KPI reporting fits {#where-it-fits}

### What it's for {#what-its-for}

E-commerce KPI reporting gives the board and the team one dependable view of the month. The underlying need is simple: consistent definitions, so nobody copies figures between tools and argues about which one is right.

### How it helps {#how-it-helps}

- **One number per KPI.** Revenue, margin, ROAS and cash come from one warehouse, so every view agrees.
- **Definitions you can read.** Each KPI has a written definition, from Luca's defaults or your own custom metrics.
- **Figures you can trace.** Each figure in an answer links to the table behind it.
- **Less assembly.** The pack starts from calculated KPIs, not from five exports.
- **Formats the board expects.** Download as Excel, Word, PDF or PowerPoint.

### What happens without it {#without-it}

Without shared definitions, the monthly pack becomes a reconciliation exercise. Each director quotes a different figure for the same month. Trust in the numbers fades, and meetings drift into debating the data instead of the decisions.

### Why buyers care {#why-buyers-care}

Finance analysts and CFOs feel it first, in the days before each board meeting. Founders feel it when an investor asks why two reports disagree. It matters most at month end and at year end, when the figures become a record that others rely on.

## The Luca AI approach to e-commerce KPI reporting {#approach}

{/* 5P */}

The finance analyst at a home-fragrance brand builds the board's KPI pack in the first week of every month. Candles and diffusers sell through Shopify and Amazon, ads run on Meta and Google, and the books close in Xero. This month, three tools show three different October revenue figures.

The usual fix is a reconciliation spreadsheet. She exports each tool, strips out VAT and shipping, matches refunds and writes footnotes for the gaps. It can take two or three days a month. When a director asks why ad returns fell, she may have to rebuild the whole chain to answer.

None of the tools is wrong. Each counts revenue its own way, at its own moment, in its own currency. The figures only agree when every KPI is calculated from the same data, against one written definition per measure.

Luca brings her store, marketplace, ad accounts and Xero ledger into one private warehouse for the brand. Luca calculates the KPIs from that warehouse, using sensible defaults with the brand's own definitions on top. Her dashboard, her chat answers and her downloads all draw on the same figures. When a director asks a question, she asks Luca, reads the answer and opens the table behind each number.

One fact here is easy to test against other tools. Does every figure in a report link back to the table it came from? That point is covered in How Luca AI compares for e-commerce KPI reporting, below.

## Why the same KPI differs between tools {#why-figures-differ}

Most disagreements in a KPI pack are not errors. They come from a handful of definition and timing choices that each tool makes for you. Knowing them lets you explain a gap in one line instead of a page of footnotes.

### What counts as revenue {#what-counts-as-revenue}

"Revenue" can mean gross sales, net sales after discounts and returns, or a total that includes shipping and tax. Published figures show how wide the gap can be. Shopify's Black Friday Cyber Monday total is gross merchandise volume, defined as [net of refunds but inclusive of shipping, duty and value-added taxes](https://www.shopify.com/news/bfcm-data-2025). Your Xero revenue line will normally exclude VAT. Both are correct; they answer different questions.

### When a sale is recorded {#when-a-sale-is-recorded}

Timing splits figures too. Shopify's guide to accounting methods explains that the choice [comes down to when income and expenses are recorded](https://www.shopify.com/blog/cash-basis-vs-accrual-basis): when they are paid, or when they are earned. An order placed on 31 October and paid out by Shopify Payments in November can sit in different months in your store and your bank. Our explainer on [cash flow, revenue and profit](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/cash-flow-vs-revenue-vs-profit) sets out how the three move apart.

### Who gets the credit for a sale {#who-gets-the-credit}

Ad platforms each claim the sales they influenced. Shopify's attribution guide notes that last-click attribution is [the default for most marketing platforms](https://www.shopify.com/blog/marketing-attribution), and that there is [no such thing as 100% "true" marketing attribution](https://www.shopify.com/blog/marketing-attribution). Add up what Meta and Google each report and you will often get more sales than your store recorded. That is why a blended measure such as MER, which divides total revenue by total ad spend, sits next to platform ROAS in a good pack.

### Which costs come out of margin {#which-costs-come-out}

Gross margin and contribution margin are often confused. Shopify's comparison puts it plainly: contribution margin [takes into account only the variable costs](https://www.shopify.com/blog/contribution-margin-vs-gross-margin) of making a product, while gross margin covers all direct production costs. Decide which one the board sees, and name it on the page. Our guide to [contribution margin and gross margin](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/contribution-margin-vs-gross-margin) works through both.

### Currency, tags and revisions {#currency-tags-revisions}

Three smaller effects finish the list. Currency moves growth rates: in the same Shopify release, the 2025 peak was up 27% on the year, or 24% at constant currency. Tagging splits channels, because UTM parameters are case sensitive, so "Facebook" and "facebook" can appear as two sources. And figures get revised as late data lands: the Office for National Statistics revised August 2026 retail volumes from a 0.5% rise to a 0.7% rise in its latest bulletin.

### What this means for your KPI report {#what-this-means}

A dependable KPI report fixes each of these choices once, in writing, and applies them everywhere. Luca does the calculating from one warehouse and uses one definition per KPI across dashboards, chat and downloads. Its defaults for the common ad and cash measures are listed below, and your own definitions sit on top of them.

The smaller effects are handled too. Sales in any currency are converted into your reporting currency at the daily rate, and Luca supports multi-currency reporting. Luca is VAT and OSS aware, and applies COGS, shipping, fees and overheads using your own cost rules.

![A close-up of a profit and loss table for a demo brand, refreshed every night from Shopify, Amazon and Xero, with a tooltip explaining that product cost is landed cost on a first-in, first-out basis](https://ask-luca.com/product-docs/images/use-cases/kpi-product-cost-definition.webp)

*The product cost definition for Fernlow, a demo brand, shown on hover. The figures are sample data; a written cost rule like this is what keeps gross margin steady from one pack to the next.*

## The KPIs in a monthly e-commerce KPI pack {#kpis-in-the-pack}

Start with Luca's default definitions for the measures boards ask about most. These are the formulas Luca uses unless your brand defines its own.

| KPI | Luca's default definition |
|---|---|
| **ROAS** | Attributed revenue ÷ ad spend |
| **Blended marketing efficiency (MER)** | Total revenue ÷ total ad spend |
| **Blended CAC** | Total marketing spend ÷ new customers |
| **Break-even ROAS** | 1 ÷ gross margin |
| **Cash-conversion cycle** | Inventory days + debtor days, less creditor days |

Then choose the rest of the pack by area. Luca calculates each of these as standard once the source behind it is connected.

| Area | KPIs Luca calculates | What needs to be connected |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | Gross and net sales, average order value, units, refund rate | Shopify, and Amazon Seller Central if you sell there |
| Margin | Gross profit and gross margin by product, variant and SKU; contribution margin and contribution profit; contribution per order; profit and margin by sales channel, including Amazon SKU economics after marketplace fees | Shopify, with your product costs, and Amazon if you sell there |
| Marketing | ROAS by platform and campaign, MER, blended and platform-level CAC, CAC payback, ad spend as a share of revenue, real store-based ROAS against platform-reported ROAS, and POAS | Meta, Google Ads, TikTok Ads or Amazon Ads, plus your store |
| Profit | Gross, operating and net margin, operating profit, and a daily-refreshed P&L view | Xero or QuickBooks |
| Cash | Free cash flow, debtor, creditor and inventory days, cash-conversion cycle, cash position across banks and payment processors, and cash runway | Xero or QuickBooks, plus your bank through Open Banking |
| Customers | Repeat-purchase rate, new against returning customers, monthly cohorts, historical lifetime value by acquisition cohort, predicted lifetime value and churn risk, RFM-style segments | Shopify |
| Stock | Weeks of stock cover against supplier lead times, stock-out risk, and slow-moving and aged stock | Shopify, and Amazon if you sell there |
| Subscriptions | Active subscribers, monthly and 90-day churn | Recharge, set up by the Luca team |
| Your own | Custom metrics and KPIs, to your business's definitions | Whatever each measure draws on |

Groups with more than one store or brand report the same way. Luca puts Shopify and Amazon in one P&L, rolls up several stores, and holds multiple brands in one account, with multi-currency reporting across them. For context beyond your own numbers, Luca benchmarks against similar brands from public sources, and tracks goals and the annual plan with pacing.

Luca's guide to the [e-commerce KPIs that decide profitability](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/ecommerce-kpis) explains why each one earns its place, and its list of [top e-commerce KPIs across the funnel](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/top-ecommerce-kpis) covers the wider set.

## How to check a KPI report before it goes out {#check-the-report}

A KPI report is only as good as the checks behind it. These are the tests finance teams use before a pack reaches the board.

- **Reconcile the top line.** Net sales in your store should explain revenue in the ledger, once VAT, shipping, refunds and timing are accounted for. Write the bridge down.
- **Compare like with like.** The ONS warns that [monthly growth rates can be volatile](https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/retailindustry/bulletins/retailsales/latest) and should be read alongside the three-month rate. Show month on month, the latest three months and the same month last year.
- **Smooth the noise.** A rolling average [eliminates some of the randomness in the data](https://otexts.com/fpp3/decomposition.html), so a trend line beside a noisy weekly KPI helps the board see direction.
- **Allow for the calendar.** Statistics agencies publish seasonally adjusted series by removing calendar effects, such as Easter moving between months. If you do not adjust, say so and compare with the same month last year.
- **Freeze the version.** Date the pack, note when the data was last refreshed, and keep the file you sent.

### What Luca's own checks do {#luca-checks}

Luca runs daily data-quality audits that compare its data with Shopify, Amazon and QuickBooks, and catch gaps, duplicates and stale tables. Every source refreshes once a day, overnight. Sales are reconciled to payments, payouts and the accounting ledger, following your own hierarchy of sources of truth.

Every answer shows its working. Dashboards show the exact query behind each figure, and chat shows its reasoning steps and sources, with each figure linked to the table it came from. That gives you an audit trail of how every number was computed. Every priority brief ends with an appendix showing which data Luca used and how each figure was calculated. Luca also asks a clarifying question when a request is ambiguous. Month-on-month and year-on-year growth rates, and ratios such as LTV to CAC, can be asked for directly in chat and are calculated from the same data.

> **Try asking Luca:** "Show MER and blended CAC for October, with the change on September and on October last year."

## How to build a monthly KPI report {#how-to-build-a-kpi-report}

You can build a KPI report by hand, and it is worth knowing the steps even when a tool does the work. Our piece on [e-commerce reporting for scaling DTC operators](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/ecommerce-reporting) covers the weekly rhythm around it.

### The manual method {#manual-method}

1. **Write the definitions first.** For each KPI, record its name, formula, source, what it includes and what it leaves out.
2. **Fix the period.** Choose calendar or fiscal months, one time zone, and whether you count by order date or payment date.
3. **Export each source.** Pull sales from Shopify and Amazon, spend from each ad platform, and the profit and loss from Xero or QuickBooks.
4. **Normalise the data.** Convert currencies at one stated rate, take out VAT, and treat shipping and refunds the same way everywhere.
5. **Reconcile to the ledger.** Bridge store net sales to ledger revenue and explain every difference above your tolerance.
6. **Calculate the KPIs.** Work them out from the reconciled base, with month-on-month, three-month and year-on-year comparisons.
7. **Review, lock and send.** Have a second person check the bridge, date the pack and keep the version you sent.

### The same job in Luca {#same-job-in-luca}

In Luca, the exporting and calculating are done before you start. Your sources refresh overnight into one warehouse, and Luca calculates the KPIs from it using one definition each. You open your dashboard or [ask questions across Shopify, ads and Xero](https://ask-luca.com/product-docs/chat/cross-source-answers) in plain English, check a definition by hovering over the metric, and open the table behind any figure. Then Luca builds the PDF board pack, or you download the answer as Excel, Word, PDF or PowerPoint, or send a private link. Your time goes on the commentary, not the copying. Luca's case for [automated reporting over more dashboards](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/automated-ecommerce-reporting) explains the shift.

### A worked example: reconciling October revenue {#worked-example}

This illustrative calculation follows the manual method for a demo home-fragrance brand. The figures are sample data in pounds sterling, rounded, and are not a Luca output.

| Line | Arithmetic | Amount (GBP) |
|---|---|---|
| Gross sales | Orders before discounts and returns | 200,000 |
| Less discounts | 200,000 minus 10,000 | 190,000 |
| Less returns | 190,000 minus 6,000 | **184,000 net sales** |
| Plus shipping charged | 184,000 plus 8,000 | 192,000 |
| Plus VAT at 20% | 192,000 × 0.20 = 38,400, added | **230,400 total sales** |

So one month has three honest "revenue" figures: 200,000, 184,000 and 230,400. Now see what that does to the ad measures.

| KPI | Arithmetic | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Ad spend | Meta 14,000 + Google 9,000 | 23,000 |
| Platform-reported ROAS | (Meta 58,000 + Google 41,000) ÷ 23,000 | 4.3 |
| MER on net sales | 184,000 ÷ 23,000 | 8.0 |
| MER on total sales | 230,400 ÷ 23,000 | 10.0 |
| Break-even ROAS | 1 ÷ 0.55 gross margin | 1.82 |
| Blended CAC | (23,000 ad spend + 4,600 other marketing) ÷ 1,150 new customers | 24.00 |

The same month gives an MER of 8.0 or 10.0, a gap of 25%, purely from the revenue definition. The platforms also claim 99,000 of sales between them, more than half of net sales. Neither is a mistake. A pack that states its definitions once, and uses them everywhere, makes the gap disappear from the board discussion.

![A bar chart for a demo brand stepping from gross sales of 200,000 pounds, less discounts and returns, to net sales of 184,000, then adding shipping and VAT to reach total sales of 230,400](https://ask-luca.com/product-docs/images/explainers/one-month-three-revenue-figures.webp)

*An illustrative revenue bridge with sample figures for a demo brand, showing why three tools can report three October revenue figures without any of them being wrong.*

## KPI reporting this quarter {#this-season}

The fourth quarter puts the most strain on a KPI pack. Black Friday falls on Friday 27 November 2026 and Cyber Monday on Monday 30 November, so the November pack will carry the year's biggest week. Compare it with the same weeks last year, not with October.

Published peak figures show why definitions matter. Shopify merchants sold [14.6 billion US dollars over Black Friday Cyber Monday 2025](https://www.shopify.com/news/bfcm-data-2025), measured as gross merchandise volume, and Shopify notes the figures are approximate and unaudited. For UK brands, the latest ONS bulletin puts the share of retail sales made online at [28.8% in September 2026](https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/retailindustry/bulletins/retailsales/latest), with online spending up 7.4% on the year in the July to September quarter. If you put a market figure beside your own growth, check that both use the same definition and the same period.

## Board packs, scheduled reports and alerts {#board-packs-and-schedules}

A KPI pack has to reach people, on time, in a form they can read. Luca builds board and investor packs as PDFs, plus QBRs, from your data. Because the pack draws on the same warehouse and definitions as everything else, it matches the dashboard and the chat answers.

Reports can also arrive without anyone asking:

- **Scheduled email reports.** The priority brief arrives by email on a schedule.
- **Scheduled digests.** A Monday health digest and a weekly review keep the team on the same figures.
- **Slack delivery.** Briefs and reports can go straight into Slack.
- **Email on demand.** Send any report by email, or export any conversation as a PDF.
- **Shareable and white-label reports.** Share a report through a private, revocable link, and send white-label reports under your own brand.

Between packs, alerts catch a KPI that moves too far. Luca runs anomaly detection with a stated method (2-sigma), threshold alerts such as ROAS below a floor or runway under 60 days, and margin-drift alerts. Alerts are held until Luca is confident, deduplicated and capped. You choose where they go: Slack, email or the app.

## Set up KPI reporting in Luca {#set-up}

You can [set up Luca without a developer](https://ask-luca.com/product-docs/getting-started/set-up-luca), and every connection is read-only.

1. **Connect Shopify.** Open **Sources**, click **Connect** on the Shopify card and approve access. Luca imports your full Shopify history.
2. **Connect your ad accounts.** Google Ads, GA4 and Search Console share one **Google** card, and TikTok Ads sits in the same **Marketing** group. Meta connects by OAuth for some accounts and through guided partner access with the Luca team for others.
3. **Connect your books.** Xero and QuickBooks Online connect self-serve, so profit, cash and working-capital KPIs can sit in the same pack.
4. **Add your own definitions.** During onboarding, the Luca team maps your data with you. Then add a custom metric wherever your definition differs from Luca's defaults.
5. **Build your dashboards.** Open **Numbers** › **My dashboard** and add a dashboard for the board, with the KPIs it needs.
6. **Ask for the month.** Ask in chat for each KPI with its comparisons, or open your brand's dashboard.
7. **Send it.** Ask for the PDF board pack, schedule the email report, download the answer as Excel, Word, PDF or PowerPoint, or share a frozen copy through a private link.

Because Luca [only reads the systems you connect](https://ask-luca.com/product-docs/platform/read-only-access), building the pack never changes a figure in Shopify or Xero.

> **Try asking Luca:** "Build our October board pack as a PDF, with net revenue, contribution profit, MER and cash against plan."

## Who uses KPI reporting in Luca {#who-uses-it}

### Finance analysts and CFOs {#finance}

A finance analyst builds the monthly pack from calculated KPIs instead of exports. The CFO checks definitions and traces any figure the board questions to its table. Our guide to [tracking e-commerce unit economics](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/best-way-to-track-e-commerce-unit-economics) covers the per-order view behind the pack.

### Founders and CEOs {#founders}

A founder reads the same figures in the dashboard each morning that the board sees each month. When a number looks off, the next question goes straight into chat. The guide to [one view of the whole business](https://ask-luca.com/product-docs/use-cases/see-the-whole-business) shows the daily side.

### Growth and marketing leads {#growth}

A growth lead reports ROAS by platform next to MER and blended CAC, so the board sees both the platforms' view and the blended one. Luca's article on [why platform ROAS misleads](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/declining-platform-roas-vs-true-profitability) explains the gap.

## How Luca AI compares for e-commerce KPI reporting {#compare}

Luca builds your KPI report from store, ad and accounting data in one warehouse, so each KPI has one definition everywhere. Every figure in an answer links to the table it came from, and you can send the result as a document or a private link. Luca AI is the only platform in this table that does all four.

E-commerce KPI reporting features, from each platform's public documentation:

| Platform | Store, ads and accounting in one report | Each figure traced to its source table | Report downloads as PDF, Excel or PowerPoint | Private, revocable share links |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Luca AI** | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| **Shopify Analytics** | Not in docs | Not in docs | Partly ([export for spreadsheet programs](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/reports-and-analytics/shopify-reports/report-types/reports-overview)) | Partly ([staff with Analytics permissions](https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/reports-and-analytics/shopify-reports/report-types/custom-reports/managing-custom-reports)) |
| **Daasity** | Not in docs | Partly ([fallback answers name the table](https://help.daasity.com/core-concepts/ai-analyst/connect-your-ai-mcp)) | Partly ([scheduled PDF, CSV zip or image](https://help.daasity.com/core-concepts/dashboards/scheduled-reports)) | Partly ([Enterprise public link, admin set-up](https://help.daasity.com/core-concepts/dashboards/sharing-and-collaboration)) |
| **Lifetimely** | Partly ([QuickBooks costs and expenses](https://help.useamp.com/article/1115-getting-started-with-quickbooks-online)) | Partly ([QuickBooks rows marked by logo](https://help.useamp.com/article/1390-lifetimely-income-statement)) | Partly ([CSV export of the breakdown](https://help.useamp.com/article/1390-lifetimely-income-statement)) | Not in docs |
| **Triple Whale** | Not in docs | Partly ([channel and pixel figures differ](https://triplewhale.readme.io/docs/pixel-joined-table)) | Partly ([export to your data warehouse](https://triplewhale.readme.io/reference/introduction-to-data-warehouse-export)) | Not in docs |
| **Northbeam** | Not in docs | Not in docs | Partly ([CSV is the only export format](https://docs.northbeam.io/docs/northbeam-api-data-exports-overview)) | Not in docs |

*Yes: documented and built in. Partly: documented with a limit, shown in brackets. Not in docs: not found in the vendor's public documentation.*

### Why Luca AI is the stronger choice for e-commerce KPI reporting {#compare-stronger}

- **Your ledger is in the same report.** Luca reads Xero or QuickBooks next to your store and ad accounts, so profit and cash KPIs share one warehouse. Lifetimely's QuickBooks connection [syncs and categorises your cost and expense data](https://help.useamp.com/article/1115-getting-started-with-quickbooks-online). See [Luca AI and other Lifetimely alternatives](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/lifetimely-alternatives).
- **One figure per KPI, traced to its table.** Each figure in a Luca answer links to the table it came from. Triple Whale's docs say channel-reported and pixel order counts [may differ, and both are correct](https://triplewhale.readme.io/docs/pixel-joined-table). See [Luca AI and other Triple Whale alternatives](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/triple-whale-alternatives).
- **Board-ready formats from one answer.** Luca downloads answers as CSV, Excel, Word, PDF or PowerPoint, and shares them through private, revocable links. Daasity's scheduled reports go out as [PDF, a CSV zip file or an image](https://help.daasity.com/core-concepts/dashboards/scheduled-reports). See [Luca AI and other Daasity alternatives](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/daasity-alternatives).

*Competitor details checked against each vendor's public documentation on 29 October 2026. Features and plans change, so confirm with the vendor before you decide.*

## Limits and things to know {#limits}

- **Daily, not live.** Sources refresh once a day, overnight, so a pack reflects the last refresh.
- **One definition per KPI.** A KPI has one definition across chat, dashboards and reports, so changing it changes every view that uses it.
- **Alerts are capped.** Luca holds alerts until it is confident and caps how many it sends, so a small wobble won't reach you.
- **Read-only.** Luca never posts a journal, edits an invoice or changes a figure in your store or books.
- **Some sources go through the team.** Recharge and Klaviyo are set up by the Luca team, and so is Meta for some accounts.
- **Slack is plan-gated.** Asking Luca from Slack needs the Leadership plan or above.

## Common questions {#common-questions}

#### What is KPI reporting? {#faq-what-is}

KPI reporting is the regular report of a small set of key measures, such as revenue, margin, ROAS, customer acquisition cost and cash. In e-commerce it usually runs weekly for the team and monthly for the board.

#### Which KPIs belong in a monthly e-commerce KPI report? {#faq-which-kpis}

Most packs cover net sales and average order value, gross margin, ROAS and MER, blended CAC, operating profit and free cash flow. Subscription brands add active subscribers and churn. Luca calculates each of these once the source behind it is connected.

#### Why does Shopify show different revenue from Xero? {#faq-shopify-vs-xero}

The two usually count different things at different times. Store totals can include shipping and VAT, while ledger revenue usually excludes VAT. Payouts can also land in a later month than the order. A written bridge explains the gap.

#### Why do Meta and Google report more sales than my store? {#faq-attribution}

Each ad platform credits the sales it influenced, often on a last-click or similar model, so their claims overlap. Totals across platforms can exceed what the store recorded. A blended measure such as MER sits beside platform ROAS for that reason.

#### How does Luca define ROAS and MER? {#faq-roas-mer}

By default, ROAS is attributed revenue divided by ad spend, and MER is total revenue divided by total ad spend. Blended CAC is total marketing spend divided by new customers. Your brand's own definitions sit on top of these defaults.

#### Can I use my own KPI definitions? {#faq-own-definitions}

Yes. Luca calculates custom metrics and KPIs to your own definitions, on top of its defaults. Once set, the same definition applies wherever the KPI appears, including custom dashboards and the board pack.

#### Can I see where a figure came from? {#faq-trace}

Yes. Every answer shows its working: dashboards show the exact query behind each figure, and chat shows its reasoning steps and sources. Hover over a metric name to read its definition.

#### Can I export the KPI report? {#faq-export}

Yes. Luca builds a PDF board pack, and you can download an answer's data as CSV or Excel, and an answer or conversation as Word, PDF or PowerPoint. Scheduled email reports send the priority brief without anyone asking.

#### Can I share the report with the board without giving them a login? {#faq-share}

Yes. Share a frozen copy through a private, revocable link that search engines don't index, and switch it off at any time. You can also email the report or send a white-label report under your own brand.

#### How up to date are the figures? {#faq-freshness}

Every source refreshes automatically once a day, overnight, and your brand's dashboard refreshes every morning. Changes made during the day appear after the next refresh.

#### Does Luca check its figures against Shopify? {#faq-checks}

Yes. Daily data-quality audits compare Luca's data with Shopify, Amazon and QuickBooks, and catch gaps, duplicates and stale tables.

#### Should a KPI report show month on month or year on year? {#faq-comparisons}

Show both, plus the latest three months. Monthly changes are noisy, and year-on-year comparisons remove most seasonal effects. Luca calculates month-on-month and year-on-year growth for any KPI you ask about in chat.

#### Can Luca change figures in Xero or Shopify? {#faq-read-only}

No. Luca reads from every connected system and writes to none of them. Building a KPI report never changes your store, ad accounts or books.

#### Is there a limit on how many questions I can ask? {#faq-question-limit}

No. There is no question limit on any Luca plan, so you can check every figure in the pack in chat.

## Further reading {#further-reading}

- [ONS retail sales bulletin](https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/retailindustry/bulletins/retailsales/latest): the latest UK online share of retail, plus guidance on monthly volatility, revisions and seasonal adjustment.
- [Shopify Black Friday Cyber Monday 2025 results](https://www.shopify.com/news/bfcm-data-2025): a published peak figure, with its definition of gross merchandise volume and its constant-currency growth.
- [Cash basis vs accrual basis accounting](https://www.shopify.com/blog/cash-basis-vs-accrual-basis): why store and ledger figures land in different months.
- [Marketing attribution models](https://www.shopify.com/blog/marketing-attribution): why ad platforms claim overlapping credit for the same sale.
- [Contribution margin vs gross margin](https://www.shopify.com/blog/contribution-margin-vs-gross-margin): which costs each margin takes out.
- [Forecasting: Principles and Practice, decomposition](https://otexts.com/fpp3/decomposition.html): how moving averages smooth a noisy series into a trend.

## Related {#related}

- [How Luca AI works](https://ask-luca.com/how-it-works): how your sources, warehouse and answers fit together.
- [Shopify analytics dashboard, explained](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/shopify-analytics-dashboard-explained): what each Shopify metric means before it reaches your pack.
- [Shopify reporting](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/shopify-reporting): the native reports to read and export alongside your KPIs.
- [E-commerce data visualisation](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/ecommerce-data-visualization): which chart suits which KPI on a board slide.
- [E-commerce analytics dashboard tools](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/ecommerce-analytics-dashboard): how reporting tools for online brands differ.
- [E-commerce profit margins](https://ask-luca.com/blogs/ecommerce-profit-margins): the margin benchmarks a board will ask about.

*Updated 29 October 2026: new page covering why KPI figures differ between tools, Luca's default KPI definitions, how to check a report, the manual method with a worked example, this quarter's peak dates and further reading. Later the same day: added custom metrics and dashboards, the full KPI set, board packs, scheduled reports, Slack delivery, alerts, pacing, benchmarks and how every answer shows its working.*